A gambling establishment has a number of games which appeal to a person's temptation to take a risk, with the hope and expectation that the risk taken at the right time and under the right circumstances will result in a return which far exceeds the investment. A typical casino provides many games to a prospective customer including black jack, poker, baccarat, roulette, craps and slots.
Recently, progressive games have been introduced into casino play. The progressive game includes a jackpot and participants who wish to wager on the progressive game contribute a fixed wagering amount by token or cash into a jackpot, and if the participant does not win, a portion of his contribution is added to the jackpot. Accordingly the jackpot becomes progressively larger with each unsuccessful bet until a winner is determined.
Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,041 taught a method whereby a progressive game could be offered as a side bet to a game of poker. In our prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,248 we taught a method whereby a progressive game could be offered as a side bet to a game of craps. In our prior application Ser. No. 08/961,357 we taught a method whereby a progressive game could be offered as a side bet to a game of baccarat.
Casinos have found that progressive games facilitate in the attraction of players into games, the retention of players who have already engaged in a game, and on the whole, increase table or slot profitability. Casinos are, therefore, seeking to incorporate a progressive game with each type of game played within the casino. It would also be desirable to provide a progressive game which would interact with a number of different games in the casino. For example, it would be desirable to have a universal progressive whereby a player at a black jack table could participate and win a portion of the progressive jack pot in the event of the occurrence of a given winning combination in a poker hand at a distant table in the casino.